Greetings Salemites, It is with great pleasure that I present to you our first official Patch to Salem! Please keep in mind that it was and remains an impossible task to turn Salem into the Masterpiece we believe it can be in a single night, or even a single patch. If there is a change you were hoping for that you do not see here, feel free to inquire about it in this thread. I will continue to do my best to be as straight forward as possible in regards to our design goals and let you know if that change was intentionally ignored, or is simply on our project schedule at a later date. Keep in mind that per our development roadmap the emphasis of this patch was to create a system that allowed characters to build quicker at earlier stages, and give a player a method to overcome the burden of the Real Life Timers through additional activities.

So without further ado, the world is a changin' and here's how.

CONTENT--------*In anticipation for one day feeding animals, Pilgrims may now construct Haystacks.*A HayStack takes various grass, oats, and cereal as input and returns you with Hay*Rumours are spreading that a Wild Turkey has an occasional chance to be a rare Fertile Turkey.*Fertile Turkeys appear to lay eggs at an accelerated rate.*Fertile Turkeys appear to produce more valuable poo.*Pilgrims have discovered a new skill! Folk Medicine*Rattler Serum & Existing BerryMash Laxitive are now craftable with Folk Medicine.*Chemists have discovered a new Recipe! Fishguts & Rot Refresher Unlocked with Folk Medicine and provides a small amount of Inspirational Points upon gulping.*Chemists have discovered a new Recipe! Berrymash Purgative Unlocked with Folk Medicine. Berrmymash Purgative removes large chunks of your Full & Fed up Debuff when Consumed.*Pilgrims have discovered a new skill! Potions & Poultices*Chemists have discovered a new Recipe! Rubbery Mescaline Refresher unlocked with Potions & Poultices. Provides a fair amount of Inspiration upon Gulping.*Pilgrims have discovered a new skill! Pharmaceuticals Formal*Chemists have discovered a new Recipe! Sweet & Thorny unlocked with Pharmaceuticals Formal. Provides a Good amount of Inspiration upon Gulping.*Pilgrims have discovered a new skill:: Ceramics & Crucibles*Pilgrims are now capable of blowing glass and melting some metals in a Crucible.*Metallurgists have discovered a new Recipe! Unburnt Crucible. Unburnt Crucibles must be fired in a Kiln before they can be placed as a structure.*Chemists have discovered a new Recipe! Bottles! A Bottle is used as a materials to craft Potions.*Pilgrims may now blow 4 Glass Bottles from a pane of glass.*Metallurgists have discovered a new Recipe! Gold Bar. Gold Bars are in High demand and as such are extremely valuable to the Hudson Bay Trade Company. They are craftable only while using a Crucible.*New System: Leaderboards. First Leaderboard implementation via the Executioner. More Leaderboards planned to follow in future patches.*A strange new Item has been found in the world. Known as the Executioners Masque.*A new axe has been found in the world. It is known as the Executioners Axe.*Pilgrims are able to make a new Artifice known as a Spider Weft.*Players are now more sophisticated diners. Sugar & Spice now reduces your gluttony timer every three consecutive points gained in a gluttony session. The higher your S&S the more of a Bonus you get removed from the current timer on your debuff on average.(Note)This mechanic will be watched carefully. It has been designed so that it should be far more rewarding for a new player than an older one. As such, it should be much easier for new players, recently deceased characters, etc. etc. to catch up to those who are higher than them.

*Players invested into the politics of law and lore now receive financial benefits when filling a claim. Law & Lore now gives a bonus when you place money in a bell or claimstone. The higher Law & Lore, the more extra authority you receive when filling claims.*Pilgrims have discovered a new skill: Shrub Orchards(NOTE)This is now the most difficult skill in the game and our first attempt at exploring very difficult yet very rewarding skills to begin establishing infrastructure only seen and felt at the "end-game".

*Blackberries now grow into Blackberry Bushes in Pots and may be planted like Trees.*Cranberries now grow into a Cranberry Bush in Pots.*Myrtle Oak Bushes may now be planted with their Acorns and behave like the other bushes.*Pilgrims have discovered a new item known as the Rarefied Thornbush Flower.*Rarefied Thornbush Flower may now be planted in a pot and will grow into a thorn bush.*Mines & Mountains now increases your chances of removing higher yield Lime Boulders.

Beauty & The Balance---------------*Turkeys were becoming depressed with your constant dropping of their excrement. Turkey Droppings now also lower field upkeep in addition to their other fertilizer properties.*Phlegm is now more appropriately colored as Blue.*Black Bile color has been changed to a dark grey.*Colewort Leaves now appropriately trigger in the "Any Plant" Category.*Leaf of Green, White and Red Cabbage now appropriately trigger in the "Any Plant" Category.*Entire Heads of Cabbage can be composted for the cumulative value of all leaves inside it.*Cranberries now appropriately pass on an increase to recipes crafted with them.*New 3D Model for Ore Boulders with less frustrating collision mechanics.*Ore Boulders themselves can now be distinguished as their metal type by their graphic.*Ore in your Inventory may now have its metal type distinguished in your inventory*Town Bells now Deactivate when they are below one hour of remaining Authority. Previously they were deactivating much sooner.*Slave Keys may now only be assigned ONE time.(NOTE)Existing Slave Keys are now "Legacy" in that they can still also be attuned one additional time from their current owner. Towns would be wise to re-issue keys post-patch and demand return of the old ones.

*HORSES may now be RENTED in Providence.*Combat now disabled from Horses.*Damage done to a mounted player dismounts him.*Horses now have a timer to mount them.*Horse run speed now massively increased.(Note)This is a Short Term Fix. We feel the map is too large, and there are numerous issues with correcting this. We did not feel it fair or necessary at this time to wipe the map or unload sections of it simply because we do not agree with its size. Instead, we have temporarily given you a way to blaze from Point A to Point B. Later down the road, once we can determine what the final healthy population of Salem may be, we can re-evaluate the issue of a map that takes 20+ hours to run across. As it is currently, a Waste Claim could go active faster than you could conceivably get to your friends town to defend it. This was unacceptable. True real and final implementation of Horses will actually be in the Animal Husbandry patch. Until then, enjoy them.

*Some new decorative items added to Providence.*Tree Planting has had its Requirements adjusted to fit the Gardener Profession.*Horticulture has had its requirements adjusted to better fit the Gardener Profession.*Bull Run has had its Damage adjusted, speed increased, and charge up time decreased.*Stomp now applies a stun immunity after successful landing, thus eliminating the ability to chain stomp.*Stomp now lands quicker.*Worms now add more food then previously before when feeding to Tukeys.*Pythons now add Significantly more food than previously before when feeding Turkeys.*Concordant of Worms now instantly fills a Turkey Coop.*Lime Boulders now come in various shapes, sizes, textures, and amounts.*Inviting a Player to a Town now flags him as a "Trial Member". Trial Members by default do not have the Waste Ability. *Trial Town Members who party other members do not pass on waste permissions.*Trial Town Members will default to full citizenship after 28 Days.*Any member of a town with Manage Permissions may reset the duration of a Trial Period to 7 Days at small cost to his town authority.*Alchemy Skill now Requires Ceramics and Crucibles to Learn as a pre-requisite.*Snake Skull Drop rate on Snakes themselves increased.*Snake Skull spawn rate in stumps and logs decreased.*Digging up pavement now costs more phlegm than laying it.*Striking a Cutting now uses Phlegm.*Tilling a Field now costs Phlegm.*Planting a Fied now costs more Phlegm.*Sign Posts now require Wood Plugs instead of Nails. Should you choose to spam the world with them, I will have them made of glass.*Sprouted Garlics now produce the same Garlic yield as planting the bulbs themselves.*Kilns now Burn for 4 hours at a time.*Kilns now require much more fuel.*Lighting a Smelter now Trespassing, Down from Waste.*Lighting a Kiln now tresspassing, down from waste.*Mining a Tile that does not belong to you is now Larceny, not waste.*Lighting a Bread Oven now Tresspassing, Down from Waste.*Lighting a Coal Clamp now Tresspassing.*Natural Philosophy Required for Settling now slightly increased.*Thrust Damage slightly decreased.

Noobie Nice Things--------------*Berry Bushes, Thorn Bushes, Myrtle Bushes, & Maple Trees now regenerate their contents significantly faster.*You may now dig up bushes and move them around the world. Dropping a Bush will immediate plant it. This is unlocked with Flowers & Berries.*Damage done from Picking thorns lowered.*Becoming Knocked out now only reduces a percentage of your remaining Inspiration. Not reset it to 0.*Hollow Logs now Spawn various goods much like their Tree Stump friends.*Indian Feathers & Indian Arrowheads now spawn in Tree Stumps & Logs.*Silver spawns in larger stacks in Tree Stumps & Logs.*A Fresh 5 Humor Character should now have a reasonable chance of killing a Cricket on his first try.*Mushroom Poisoning duration has been significantly decreased. An observant newbie should find it extremely difficult to receive a buff that lasts longer than a play session.*Milkweed Roots now spawn in significantly more Biomes with a higher intensity.*Hudson Bay Trade Company will now buy your indian feathes and arrowheads independently of combining them into a Savage Charm. The return is appropriately less for your laziness to combine them yourselves.*Hudson Bay Trade Company will now sell Bottles so that a new player may craft entry potions prior to having the Crucible Skill.

Tears------*Crickets supply has been greatly increased in the market. Hudson Bay Trade Company has adjusted its price down to compensate.*Rabbits, feeling empowered by the recent inabilities of their Cricket Companion have increased their fortitude and shall be more difficult to kill.*March Hares have been significantly buffed, players are urged to use extreme caution in attempting to bring the beast down now.*Horses will spawn next to the Vendor in Providece, thus giving any player nearby the opportunity to steal your rented horse. They are best purchased when others are not around.*NEW NPC: The Executioner named Mr. Puggles in the south of town.*Mr. Puggles is willing to kill you. This is permadeath should you click it, and then confirm through the overwhelmingly obvious warnings that you are about to be executed. This is your one and only way to "Delete" a character.*Mr. Puggles has decided to charge you a fee for the service of killing you.*Players may now scalp the tribe.*Scalps may be redeemed at the Executioner and registered with a value that represents the investment of both humors and prof in the player killed.*You may inquire with the Executioner to see the names of the top 10 players killed and their killers.*Registering a Top 10 Scalp provides a reward.*Registering a Scalp of a Murderer also returns a silver bounty.*Kicking a Town member now drains more authority than before.*When a Town member leaves a town, it also loses some authority.*Carrying around a Thornbush is very hazardous to your health.*Dropping 10 silver into the Well in providence rapidly, will cause you to be 10 silver poorer.*Rattler Skin spawns now decreased from Stumps/Logs.*You may now Rip up your fields. Ripping up your fields destroys the crop and returns nothing. (Note)This is simply a mechanic to allow you to change what is growing on a field if you planted the wrong thing without being forced to wait the whole cycle.

*Hudson Bay Trade Company has realized the wilderness guide has under-priced Copper pots. Through some veiled threats and clever economic maneuvering they have persuaded him to no longer sell the copper pot. The copper pot is now for sale by the Hudson Bay Trade Company for a slightly adjusted price.

*Professions Sneak Peak:Profession is a concept not a mechanic that we will begin implementing and is a loose term for specialized skills and abilities revolving around an emphasis in a particular proficiency and industry. In this patch, you will notice an emphasis on the Chemist and the Gardener. Some concept, design, and lore behind them can now be seen here: http://www.salemthegame.com/content/salem-journal

NOTE: This is NOT a comprehensive list of all changes. Some patch changes would damage the feeling of exploration if announced here so you will simply have to find them on your own.

A Message From the New Gods -------------------------

As you can tell, we have invested a fair bit of time to make sure that we continue to implement changes that you love to hate, and we love to watch you love to hate. We also hope you can learn to appreciate that with each patch the new player will continue to have an easier barrier of entry to Salem. We know you had to walk uphill, in the snow, both ways, to get where you have gotten. But we ask that instead of going on the attack for generally nice things to the newer population you instead recognize the population for what it is vs. what it could be. We love each and every one of you who are still here based on what you endured, but we hope you can respect that we do aim to paint a future that is not so difficult for a new player to see and understand all that Salem is and can be. In addition to that, if you have some overwhelmingly hurtful, negative, tyrant speech about how bad we, Salem, and everybody who plays it is as the result to any changes, I would ask that you take a step back and realize two things. First, this is our first patch to the game and it comes in the middle of literally one hundred other things related to developing this game. Secondly, that we have been, and will continue to be receptive of your feedback. The attitude towards change has been toxic in the past, and I strongly believe that this toxicity has lasting effects on the game that go beyond what you may feel is some entitled rant about a change you disagree with. I hope you can embrace that what the world, of Salem was in desperate need of was change. You may not agree with ALL of the changes as it would be foolish to believe your vision and our vision will be in sync 100% of the time. I just hope we can all pull on the same rope so long as we, your new dev team, are doing more right than wrong. Now get out there and test these changes as I'm more than anxious to hear some feedback.

ceedat wrote:the overwhelming frustration of these forums and the unnecessarily over complicated game mechanics is what i enjoy about this game most.

By the way, new EULA is done. Old accounts will need to log in and re-accept the new EULA prior to being allowed connection to the server. Most changes involved name substitutions, and a few more disclaimers that things you buy off the store can and in many cases will be lost in-game.

ceedat wrote:the overwhelming frustration of these forums and the unnecessarily over complicated game mechanics is what i enjoy about this game most.